Why You Should Be Periodizing Your Training

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This approach to training can help you optimize fitness adaptations while reducing the risk of injury.

Periodization is one of those fitness terms that sounds intimidating, but this approach to training is actually one that any member can benefit from. It just means that you’re manipulating training variables to maximize gains while minimizing the risk of overtraining.

“Periodization is a structured approach to fitness that involves dividing your training into specific phases, each with different goals and intensities,” says Sharina Reza, a Tier 3+ coach at Equinox Hudson Yards. “It’s a plan that helps optimize performance by strategically varying factors like intensity, volume, and rest throughout a training cycle.”

It’s kind of like how you’d take a big, scary goal and break it down into smaller goals so you have a more actionable plan to follow. To that end, most periodized training plans are organized into macro-, meso-, and micro-cycles.

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The longest phase is the macrocycle, which can last a year or more. “The primary goal of the macrocycle is to set the overall training objectives and plan out major periods of training emphasis, such as strength, endurance, or competition,” explains Reza.

The macrocycle is then broken into mesocycles, intermediate phases that typically last several weeks to a few months. “These are designed to focus on specific areas of fitness, like hypertrophy, strength, power, or endurance,” she says. These management segments allow for adjustments based on progress.

Finally, there are microcycles, which last one to four weeks. “The main goal of the microcycle is to plan and adjust the training load, exercises, and intensity for a short period — weekly or even daily,” says Reza. “It provides flexibility to adapt to an individual's response to training and other factors like recovery and competition schedules.”

Broken down this way, periodization can be applied to any type of exercise goal. “The primary objective in strength training periodization is to increase muscle strength and size,” says Reza, “and the focus is on gradually increasing the weight lifted over time.” To do that, you would include phases that zero in on training strength (with heavier weight, lower reps, and fewer sets), hypertrophy (using moderate weights and higher reps and sets), and power (which includes more explosive training). 

In cardio periodization, you’d progress by increasing training volume (duration) or intensity (via speed or inclines), says Reza. If you decide to run a marathon, for example, you’d start by building general endurance (through lots of easy miles), then increase the length of your long run and incorporate more high-intensity interval workouts, and finally integrate those faster efforts into longer runs. 

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And research backs up the benefits of this strategic training approach: Periodized resistance training plans were more effective than a non-periodized plan at improving someone’s one-rep max, a 2017 meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine determined. In fact, the study authors wrote “variation in training stimuli appears to be vital for increasing maximal strength.” Periodized training also led to greater improvements in endurance performance than non-periodized training in a 2020 study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, “highlighting the importance of planned training structure,” the study authors concluded.

The reason periodization works? For the body to become stronger, it has to adapt to stress. If you’ve never done a deadlift before, you might start with 10-pound weights in each hand and feel sore afterward. That feeling might last for a few weeks, but, eventually, lifting those 10 pounds will feel easy and you’ll progress to something heavier. This process is referred to as the general adaptation syndrome, a scientific review published in Sports Medicine explains.

But physical progress isn’t this linear line that just goes up and up. If you continue to put stress on the body without adequate rest, the body will eventually break down and performance will decrease. Your body needs time to repair your muscles after they’ve been stressed so you can come back stronger. With strategic deloads and down weeks, your overall trend will be upward — without overtraining forcing you to take a prolonged break. “The rest and recovery periods are essentially to allow muscles to repair and grow,” says Reza — and that’s how you see gains over time. 

Training periodization can benefit athletes of all levels. “The first step is to set a clear goal to plan for a specific training program — that will guide the periodization plan,” says Reza. “Once the goal is set, divide your training into distinct phases and adjust the volume, intensity, and exercises to align with the goals of each phase.” Working with a coach can help you avoid any issues (whether they’re related to fueling, confidence, or just how to adjust your training based on how your body responds), especially because “periodization requires ongoing assessment and necessary adjustments, which can be time-consuming,” Reza adds. 

To that end, “monitoring your progress over time by keeping a workout journal or using fitness apps is just as important as setting a goal,” says Reza. “This allows you to periodically reassess your goals and ensure you are on the right track.”

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